ON ANXIETY AND MONEY by Don Schwager

"We can be ruled by many different things – the love of money and possessions, the power of position and prestige, the glamour of wealth and fame, and the driving force of unruly passions, harmful desires, and addictive cravings." 
- Don Schwager  

In today's Gospel Reading we read from Mt 6:24-34:

Jesus said to his disciples: “No one can serve two masters.  He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are not you more important than they?  Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?  Why are you anxious about clothes?  Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.  They do not work or spin.  But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’  All these things the pagans seek.  Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.  Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.  Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” 

The following reflection is courtesy of Don Schwager (c) 2013, whose website is located at www.DailyScripture.net.  

What does the expression “serving two masters” and “being anxious” have in common? They both have the same root problem – being divided within oneself.  The root word for “anxiety” literally means “being of two minds.”  An anxious person is often “tossed to and fro” and paralyzed by fear, indecision, and insecurity.  Fear of some bad outcome cripples those afflicted with anxiety.  It’s also the case with someone who wants to live in two opposing kingdoms – God's kingdom of light, truth, and goodness or Satan's kingdom of darkness, sin, and deception – following God's standards and way of happiness or following the world’s standards of success and happiness.  Who is the master in charge of your life?  Our “master” is whatever governs our thought-life, shapes our ideals, and controls the desires of our heart and the values we choose to live by.  We can be ruled by many different things – the love of money and possessions, the power of position and prestige, the glamour of wealth and fame, and the driving force of unruly passions, harmful desires, and addictive cravings.  Ultimately the choice of who is our master boils down to two: God or “mammon”. What is mammon?  “Mammon” stands for “material wealth or possessions” or whatever tends to “control our appetites and desires.”  

There is one master alone who has the power to set us free from slavery to sin, fear, pride, and greed, and a host of other hurtful desires. That master is the Lord Jesus Christ who alone can save us from all that would keep us bound up in fear and anxiety.  Jesus used an illustration from nature – the birds and the flowers – to show how God provides for his creatures in the natural order of his creation.  God provides ample food, water, light, and heat to sustain all that lives and breathes.  How much more can we, who are created in the very image and likeness of God, expect our heavenly Father and creator to sustain not only our physical bodies, but our mind, heart, and soul as well?  God our Father is utterly reliable because it is his nature to love, heal, forgive, and make whole again.  Jesus taught his disciples to pray with confidence to their heavenly Father: Give us this day our daily bread.  What is bread, but the very staple of life and symbol of all that we need to live and grow.  Anxiety is neither helpful nor necessary.  It robs us of faith and confidence in God’s help and it saps our energy for doing good.  Jesus admonishes his followers to put away anxiety and preoccupation with material things and instead to seek first the things of God – his kingdom and righteousness.  Anxiety robs the heart of trust in the mercy and goodness of God and in his loving care for us.  God knows our needs even before we ask and he gives generously to those who trust in him.  Who is your master – God or mammon?